Principles: Endgames

(*A Dan Original/Special Principle)

"When you are winning, in general you want to make fair trades of pieces but not necessarily pawns (you want to keep enough pawns on the board to use them to win). When you are losing you want to avoid fair trades of pieces and want to trade pawns, especially if you have a chance to get rid of all your opponent's pawns." (This is copied from the General Principles page, but most often occurs in the endgame). Don't violate this principle unless your analysis shows that it is a clear exception. For example, it may be correct to trade pieces when down a pawn if you can reach a bishop-of-opposite-color endgame.

"The King is a strong piece in the endgame with fighting power worth more than a Bishop or Knight - Move it 'toward the action' " (King's are worth about four pawns fighting value).

"The endgame has different rules than the middlegame."

"Resign if you are playing a better player and you get to a position where if you were he even YOU could win easily."

*"Never push a passed pawn passed its zone of protection (unless it promotes by force!).

"Passed pawns must be pushed," but as above "Never push a pawn past its zone of defense."

"Very often a game is won by pushing an extra pawn and forcing the opponent to give up a piece to stop it."

"If you have a passed pawn (especially a protected passed pawn) you can use it to tie up your opponent while you roam freely!"

"Connected passed pawns are usually best if pushed together."

"Connected passed pawns on the 6th rank beat a Rook."

"Bishops are usually better than Knights in endgames with pawns on both sides of the board."

The easiest game to draw is Bishops of opposite color - you can be down a pawn or two and still draw in many positions.

"It is relatively easy to draw Rook and pawn endgames; easiest to lose are King and pawn endgames."

"In Rook and pawn endgames, the most important thing is usually an active King and Rook(s)."

A king, bishop, and rook's pawn which promotes on the opposite color of the bishop cannot beat a defending king which can get to that corner.

"In King and pawn endgames, the king always comes first (like a pulling guard in football)."

"In Queen and pawn endgames it is often not who has the most pawns, but who has the furthest advanced passed pawn that matters."

The Law of Symmetry: "If your opponent has more advanced pawns on a wing, you don't want to allow him an asymmetric pawn structure where he can sacrifice pawns for a winning passed pawn. Instead you want to play your pawns to enforce symmetry, where a breakthrough is usually impossible."

In general, Rooks belong as far away as possible.

One good endgame plan (and often in the middlegame!) is to find your pawn majority and get your pawns moving. Usually push your potential passed pawns first.

Pawns gain in power toward the endgame. For example, while a bishop or knight might be worth over 3 pawns on the average, they might be worth four in the opening and less than two in the deep endgame!

Centralize your queen in the endgame (everything being equal).

In a king and pawn endgame with sufficient pawns on the board, an extra pawn is almost always a win if the defender does not have a compensating advantage. So, given any K&P endgame with lots of pawns on the board where one side has a clear (non-disadvantaged) extra pawn and the defender has no majority is almost always a win!